Controlling or fitting garment



May 12, 1942.

, l. R. VERSOY CONTROLLINGIORYFITTING GARMENT Filed July 31, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 12, 1942. l. R. VERSOY CONTROLLING OR FITTING GARMENT Filed July 31, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 12, 1942. 1. R. vERsoY CONTROLLING 0R FITTING GARMENT Filed July 31, 1940 3 Sheet s-Sheet s Patented May 12, 1942 4 CONTROLLING OR FITTING GARMENT Irving R. Versoy, New Haven, Conn assignor to- The Berger Brothers Company, New Haven, 001111., a corporation of Connecticut Application July 31, 1940, Serial No. 348,773

4 Claims. (Cl. 2-27) This invention relates to a controlling garment, and more particularly to a garment designed to be fitted to a figure which is to be measured for a corset or the like, so that the figure may be properly controlled or brought into the form desired to be attained by the finished corset before the measurements are taken. The corset is then made to the measurements secured, and the figure of the wearer resulting from the corset will be accurately predetermined by the measurements taken over the controlling garment.

The garment is used particularly by corsetieres or fitters, and as it is not expedient for a corsetiere to keep on hand a large number of garments for this purpose, it is advantageous for a controlling garment to have provision for a wide range of adjustments, so that it may be employed upon figures having a wide range of sizes, as well as to have proper adjusting means for confining as desired the various parts of the body of the subject being measured.

Moreover, it is often found that in order to properly fit the wearer the two sides of a corset should not be made of identical shape and size, as it sometimes occurs that the subject will require that one side or one portion of a garment be made larger or smaller than the corresponding portion at the other side. It is, therefore, desirable in a control garment to allow for a figure which will not have the same measurement on each side of the center of the front and back, for example, while at the same time bringing the center line of the front and back of the garment correctly to the center line of the figure.

One object of the invention is the provision of a controlling garment which may be employed to properly confine and shape the figure of the subject in order that correct measurements may be taken for a finished garment.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a controlling garment of the character described which may be employed in connection with figures having a relatively wide range of measurements.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a controlling garment of the character described having the necessary adjustments to properly shape and confine the figure of the wearer, and which will at the same time be capable of adjustment to fit figures over such a range of sizes as will include practically all subjects.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a garment body embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial front view of the garment body having one of the adjusting panels secured thereto;

Fig. 3 is a detail viewshowing the garment in partly open position;

Fig. 4 is 'a partial side view of the garment showing particularly the shape of the back of the garment; and

Figs. 5 and 6 are'front elevational views of the adjusting panels.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention I have shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings a controlling garment having body portions I0 and I I secured together at their rear edges by laces I2, which laces, it will be understood, permit lateral adjustment of the rear edges of the body portions of the garment within limits.

To the forward edges of the body portions Ill and II are secured front portions which are shorter from top to bottom than the portions I0 and II, and in general extend downwardly from the upper edges of these portions to terminate short of the lower ends thereof, these front portions including side sections I3 and I4 and front sections I5 and I6. The sections I3- and I4 are secured to the body portions I0 and II along the stays I1 and I8, and are in turn provided with stays I9 and 20 attheir forward edges, to which the sections I5 and i6 aresecured.

To the stay 20, substantially at the central portion thereof, is secured a hook 2| at the interior of the garment below the section It, and cooperating with this hook is a buckle 22 adjustably mounted on an elastic strap 23 the end of which is secured to the free edge 24 of the section I5, the edge 24 being provided with astay Z5, and a corresponding stay 26 is provided at the free edge of the section I6.

To the stay 26 are secured a plurality of spaced hooks 21 adapted to be engaged by buckles 28 adjustably mounted upon straps 29 secured at 7 their rear edges at the stay seam l9. It will be .and 33, likewise adjustably carrying buckles 34 and 34 Adjacent the lower ends of the stay seams I1 and I8, flaps 35 and 36 are secured to the garment, the free end of these flaps extending forwardly toward the front center line of the garment. To the flap 35, and preferably at the under side thereof, is secured a strap 31 adjustably carrying a buckle 38, while the flap 36 is provided at its under side with a strap 31 to which a pair of hooks 39' and 40 are secured, the latter projecting from the edge of the flap and the tion thereof.

buckle 38 may be engaged with either of the.

hooks 39 Or 40, depending upon the size of the figure to which the garment is being applied.

As seen from Fig. 4, the lower portion 41 of the garment is slightly curved inwardly, and the various stays with which the body portions I and II of the garment are provided are sufficiently flexible so that thelower portion of the garment may be drawn tightly about the body of the wearer by the flaps 35 and 36, the result being that the portion 4| will becurved as shown in Fig. 4 to fit closely below the hips of the wearer and confine the flesh at that point, so that proper measurements may be taken.

From the above description it will be understood that considerable adjustment is possible owing to the fact that the buckles 22 and 28 are adjustable upon the strap 23 and 29, and the same, of course, is true of the buckle 38, which is not only adjustable upon the strap which carries it, but this buckle may be engaged with either of the hooks 39 or 40.

It is desired, however, to provide for a still wider range of adjustment of the garment, and for this purpose adjusting panels 42, 43 and 43 are provided for use when necessary, the panels 42 and 43 being shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and the panel 43 being shown attached to the garment in Fig. 2. The adjustable panel 42 is provided with a plurality of hooks 44 at each side edge, and is also provided with side tabs 45 carrying hooks 46 at their free edges. The panel 43 is constructed similarly to the panel 42, and diifers therefrom only in that it is wider, and therefore designed to be used with a figure of larger waist measurement than that with which panel 42 would be employed, while the panel 43 is similarly made but of a size smaller than the panel 42.

The application of the panels to the garment is shown in Fig. 2, from which it will be seen that the panel is applied over the sections l5 and IS, the buckles 3! being secured to the hooks 44 at one side of the panels, and the buckles 28 being secured to the hooks 44 at the other side. To the hooks 46 at the free ends of the tabs are secured the buckles 34 and 34, so that the panel 43 may be firmly secured to the garment and stretched tightly across the front of the figure to which it is being applied.

The controlling garment described may be applied to figures having waist measurements ranging from 24 to 45, and may be adjusted to fit and confine equally well any figure within that range.

If the subject is of small size, the garment shown in Fig. 1 is employed Without any of the adjusting panels. To apply the garment, it is opened up and placed around the body of the wearer, and the buckle 22 engaged with the hook 2|, as shown in Fig. 3. The strap 23 is then pulled taut through the buckle, and this strap will hold the section [5 flatly against the body of the subject. This holds the garment in position while the remaining adjustments are being made, and it will be remembered that the strap 23 is elastic so that it will maintain the section [5 in stretched condition.

The section [6 is then brought over the strap 23, as shown in Fig. 1, the buckles 28 engaged with the hooks 21, and the straps 29 adjusted as tightly as desired to properly confine the figure. While thi is being done, the garment is, of course, held in position by the strap 23. The buckle 38 is then engaged with the hook 39, and the strap 31 properly adjusted to confine the flesh of the hips of the wearer. The straps 30 V carrying buckles 3|, and straps 32 and 33 carrying buckles 34 and 34, are not employed at this time, these elements being employed only when one of the panels is used.

If the garment is being applied to a figure sufficiently large to require one of the panels, this will be accomplished as shown in Fig. 2. The garment proper is applied to the body as before, but

in this case the buckle 22, instead of being se-.

cured to the hook 2|, is secured to the intermediate one of the hooks 21, as the free edge of the section IE will probably not meet the free edge of the section l5, and the strap 23 upon which the buckle 22 is mounted will, as before, serve the purpose of holding the garment in position while the remaining adjustments are made.

One of the panels, such as 43*, for example, is then placed over the sections l5 and I6, and the buckles 28 and 3| are engaged with the hooks 44 at each edge of the panels, and the straps 29 and 30 pulled taut. In this instance the buckles 34 and 34 are used, these buckles being engaged with the hooks 46 upon the tabs 45 at each edge of the panels, and the straps carrying these buckles are also pulled taut to stretch tightly the lower portion of the panel. The buckle 38 in this instance will probably be engaged with the hook 40 at the extreme edge of the flap 36, and the strap 31 will be pulled taut through the buckle to adjust the lower portion of the garment about the hip flesh of the figure, as before.

With still larger figures the panels 42 and 43 are employed in the same manner as described in connection with panel 43 and illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

As shown in the drawings, the garment is designed-to extend downwardly from a point slightly above the waistline of the wearer. Owing to the adjustment made possible by the provision of the straps 29 and 30 and adjustable buckles carried thereon, there is, however, no fixed waistline to the garment, as these straps can be adjusted so that the waistline may be varied to some extent. This is, of course, of considerable advantage in fitting the garment to different figures.

While variation in this respect may be made, as shown the garment is made entirely of inelastic material with the exception of the elastic strap 23. Certain of the other straps, however, if desired, and also certain sections of the garment, may be made of elastic material, but in a controlling garment of this character it is preferred to have the garment as a whole made of inelastic material.

As the straps 31 and 31 traverse the width of the flaps to have their outer ends secured at the stay seams I1 and [8, the pull upon the straps will be taken by these seams and will be localized to a considerable extent at the point of connection of the straps to the stay seams. Thus when the straps are drawn taut the garment will be caused to assume the shape shown in Fig. 4, with the lower back portion drawn inwardly below the hips, a result which would not be achieved if the pull upon these straps were spread over the entire surface of the flaps.

It will be noted that the panels 43 and 43 are provided with a stay seam at their central points, so that the center line of the panel will be marked by this seam. The center of the panel 42 may, if desired, be properly marked, but this may not be necessary as it can be fairly accurately estimated. In applying the garment when one of the panels is employed, the center line of the panel is placed in registration with the center line of the body of the person whose measurements are being taken, and the measurements are taken from this line. This enables the measurements to be taken very readily of a subject whose form may not be exactly symmetrical with respect to the center line of the body, and therefore needs a garment having measurements on one side different from those upon the other side.

While I have shown and described a preferred I embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A controlling garment having a pair of bod sections secured together at their rear edges by laces, a front section secured to the forward edge of each of the body sections and having a free edge extending inwardly therefrom, a strap secured to the free edge of one of said front sections, a buckle adjustably carried by said strap, a member carried on the under side of the other front section with which said buckle is engaged, one of said front sections also having a plurality of vertically spaced straps on the face thereof, secured thereto at points spaced from its edge to extend across the front of the section, buckles adjustably secured to said straps, the other section having vertically spaced members carried b its free edge with which said buckles are engaged, said front sections terminating above the lower edges of the body portions, a flap connected to and extending inwardly from each of the body portions below the front sections, and adjustable members connecting one flap to the other to exert a pull across the front center line of the garment independently of said front sections and stretch said flaps "across the body of the wearer.

2. A controlling garment having a pair of body sections secured together at their rear edges by laces, a relatively short front section secured to the upper portion of the forward edge of each of the body sections and having a free edge extending inwardly therefrom, a strap secured to the free edge of one of said front sections, a buckle adjustably carried by said strap, a member carried by the other front section with which said buckle is engaged, a panel member adapted to overlie said front sections and extending below the same, securing means on the edges of said panel, a plurality of straps secured to the garment, means on said straps engageable with said securing means on the edges of the panel member, the means on said straps being adjustab-le thereon to apply tension to the panel member, said front sections being relatively short and terminating, above the lower edges of the body sections, thigh-controlling flaps connected respectively to the lower portion of the front edges of the body sections to extend over the body below the front sections and being adapted to cover the lower portion of the panel member, and means adjustably connecting one flap to the other across the cent-er line of the garment.

3. A controlling garment comprising body seo tions embracing the back and sides of the wearer and extending downwardly over the hips at the back, front sections secured respectively to the forward edges of the body sections and extending inwardly therefrom across the front of the wearer, means adjustably connecting one of said front sections to the other, thigh-controlling nonelastic flaps secured respectively to the forward edges of the body sections at the lowermost portion of said edges below the front sections, a strap secured to each of said flaps, said straps traversing said flaps to have their outer ends secured at the forward edges of the body sections, means on said straps for adjustably connecting one strap to the other to place said flaps under tension, a panel member overlying the front sections and having its side edges connected respectively to the front edges of the body sections, and said panel member extending downwardly to underlie said flaps and cover the space between the upper edges of the flaps and the lower edges of the front sections.

4. A controlling garment comprising non-elastic body sections embracing the back and sides of the wearer and extending downwardly over the hips at the back, front sections secured respectively to the forward edges of the body sections and extending inwardly therefrom across the front of the wearer, means adjustably connecting one of said front sections to the other, thigh-controlling non-elastic flaps secured respectively to the forward edges of the body sections below the front sections at the lowermost portion ofsaid edges, a strap secured to each of said flaps, said straps traversing said flaps to have their outer ends secured at the forward edges of the body sections, securing means carried by the strapof one of said flaps, and cooperating securing means carried by the other flap and exerting a pull on the strap secured thereto, and said straps serving when said securing means are engaged to place tension on said flaps and draw the garment inwardly below the hips of the wearer.

IRVING R. VERSOY. 

